Varian grimaced and curled in on himself. His stomach was hurting, which wasn't anything new. There had been very few moments these past few months when his stomach hadn't felt like it was trying to kill him. Varian was so used to the pain by now that it took him a long moment to realize that it felt a little different this time.
He didn't really feel like he was going to be sick. He felt hungry...huh. He actually wanted to eat something, and he didn't feel like he was going to throw up at the very thought of having more than a few bites of food.
Confused, Varian sat up, causing a heavy cloak to fall off his shoulders at the movement. Varian shivered at the sudden loss of warmth. It was just barely dawn and still fairly chilly. Varian grabbed the cloak and wrapped it around his shoulders to get some warmth back. He looked around the unfamiliar surroundings.
He was sitting at a camp that felt really familiar and safe to him, but now that he was looking around he realized just how odd it was. He didn't recognize the terrain at all. The plants that he saw around them weren't native to Corona, which meant that they weren't anywhere near his home.
It made sense. Varian knew that they'd been travelling for the past few weeks. He'd been aware of being on the road. For some reason though it hadn't really registered in his head until now that they were travelling away from Corona, away from the only place he'd ever known. It was exciting, and terrifying, and a huge relief because Varian knew that there was nothing waiting in that deceptively bright kingdom for him except for coldness, grief, and pain.
Varian noticed the animal they'd been riding on this whole time, and he felt like such an idiot when he saw it. Up to this point whenever Varian looked at the beast his mind would tell him 'horse'. How he could ever mistake a rhino for a horse, Varian didn't know.
Sure, Varian hadn't really seen a rhino before in his life, not even a proper picture of one. Varian had only read about them, and those were some embarrassing memories in and of themselves.
Varian had first read about rhinos when he was eight or so. The book didn't have any pictures along with it, so when the book had said that the rhinoceros was of the order perissodactyla, the same order that horses were a part of, he had thought that rhinos looked more similar to them. Varian had imagined a horned horse, like a unicorn.
It wasn't until Varian's dad had drawn him a picture of a rhino did Varian have a better idea of just what the animal looked like. His dad's art skills left something to be desired though, so Varian stared in awe at the odd animal sleeping in front of him. He would have to ask Hector where he had gotten it.
...Hector.
Varian looked next to him, where his uncle was sleeping. It was really odd to be looking at him. Varian didn't feel like he knew this man, but despite this he didn't feel like a stranger. Varian didn't know a lot about this man, but what he did know was enough to trust him. Varian remembered being broken out of prison and being taken home. He remembered Hector trying to help him not be afraid of the water.
The past few weeks were a bit of a blur for Varian, but everything that he did remember had been gentle and comforting, and Hector was always right there. Varian had trusted the man when he was sick, felt safe enough around him to call him his uncle, and he didn't see any reason to start being afraid of him now.
"Uncle Hector?" Varian said, surprising himself. He hadn't really meant to call him that, but it felt so natural. Hector opened an eye and looked at Varian.
"What's up, kid?" Hector asked. He sounded tired, but not all that annoyed and unwilling to help. "How're you feeling?"
"...a bit better." Varian said. He still felt lousy, but he would take feeling a little tired and confused over feeling like he was dying. "I'm hungry."
That woke Hector up. He shot up and stared at Varian in shock for a long moment before he grinned broadly. "Seriously? You're not messing around?"
Varian nodded. "Yeah, seriously."
"That's great!" Hector leapt to his feet and picked up Varian like he didn't weigh anything. He swung him around like Varian was just a little kid. It was a little embarrassing, and being spun around quickly made him feel even more dizzy, but Varian couldn't help but find himself laughing right along with Hector. They were both relieved that his health was starting to improve.
Hector eventually put Varian down. So, what do you want to eat? Whatever you want I'll make it happen." Varian thought for a second. He wasn't all that picky of an eater, but there was one kind of food that he was really craving. He hesitated to say it though, because it had been so long since he had been able to just request something.
Hector raised an eyebrow at him. "What're you thinking, kid?"
"I-" Varian shut his mouth before he could even think of asking for anything. "I-I'll eat whatever."
Hector snorted. "Come on, kid, just tell me what you want. The worst I can do is say no."
Varian stiffened. No, much worse things could be done to him. Varian knew this all too well. He could be given a disappointed look for asking for more than he deserved. He could be deprived of food entirely because he was being picky and ungrateful. He could be forced to kneel on all fours and eat sloppily from a bowl like the begging dog he was. He could…
"Kid!" Varian jumped when he felt Hector's hands on his shoulders. He flinched back, but Hector didn't move his hands. If anything his grip tightened. "Take a deep breath, okay? I'm not going to hurt you. You trust me, don't you?"
"Y-yeah." Varian said quietly, and he was surprised about how much he meant it.
"I'm not Coronan." Hector said. "And I'm not your dad either. I'm not going to get mad at you for asking for something."
"O-okay." Varian took a deep breath. He knew that Hector hadn't lashed out and hurt him out of annoyance yet, and if Varian hadn't pushed him to his limit with his feverish rambling and neediness, asking for some simple food shouldn't be the last straw. At least, Varian really hoped it wasn't.
"I kinda want something sweet." Varian said. He didn't exactly have much of a sweet tooth, but he hadn't had anything super sweet since Dad had been trapped in the amber. Even back then Varian hadn't had a whole lot of sweets, as his dad wasn't in the habit of making treats or spoiling him.
It had been far too long since Varian had even had the option of having something really sweet just because he wanted it. Varian wanted that luxury, even just as another reminder to himself that things weren't the same now as they had been in the dungeons.
"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Hector said. He stretched. "You know, I think I have just the thing in mind. It's a nice treat, but it's also used to treat sore throats in the Dark Kingdom."
That actually sounded really nice, and Varian had a pretty good idea of what Hector was talking about. "Gogol mogol?"
Hector grinned. "Well, what do you know? I didn't expect fancy schmancy Corona to make it."
"They don't." Varian said. "My dad, he always...he used to make it for me when I was sick, or having a hard day." Varian hunched his shoulder. "It's been a few years since he did it though."
Varian looked to the ground, feeling a pit form in his stomach that had nothing to do with his hunger or lingering sickness. He was horrified at the thought that his dad was trapped in the amber and that he'd left him behind in Old Corona, abandoning him. What really hurt at that moment though was that he knew he had lost his dad long before he'd trapped him. Varian had slowly been losing his dad for years, all culminating into this nauseating mess. It hurt, and Varian wanted it to stop.
"Hey, it's okay, kid." Hector said. He adjusted the cloak around Varian so it was resting solidly on his shoulders. It was way too big for him, and really heavy, but Varian didn't mind it. The weight felt a little bit like being hugged, except without the threat of having a person there.
"We don't have the stuff on us to make gogol mogol, or a decent breakfast." Hector said. "There's a town nearby though. What do you think? You up to doing a bit of shopping, or do you want to stay here and relax while we make Adira do it for us?"
Varian swallowed thickly. He definitely didn't want to go into town. He didn't exactly have the best track record of interacting with large groups. He always inevitably did something wrong, and then everybody hated him. He hadn't noticed it when he was younger, or even several months ago before the whole mess with the black rocks happened, but he was definitely aware of it now.
People didn't trust him, and the second he did the smallest thing to justify that distrust they hated him. He was always being watched by people who were just waiting for him to do something wrong so they could get mad at him for it. Andrew had done it. The guards had done it, both in the dungeons and when they'd been watching him in Old Corona. The hack of a judge at the science expo had done it. The princess, the king, Cassie, they'd all done it.
Varian wouldn't be surprised if his dad had just tiredly expected him to screw things up all the time. He tried not to think about it though. Varian was responsible for his dad being trapped in amber. This whole thing was his fault. It wasn't right to think bad about his dad when he was stuck because of him.
Sometimes Varian wondered if everybody would have been happier if his dad had let him be trapped in the amber the way he was supposed to be.
It wasn't that Varian wanted to be imprisoned, and he definitely didn't have a death wish, but he wasn't a fool. He knew that people didn't really like him. If something had happened to him the only one who would really be upset was his dad, and Varian knew he would get over it eventually. After all, his dad had gotten over his mom leaving, which was why he never talked about her, and he'd gotten over leaving his siblings behind, or else he would have at least mentioned them.
Varian knew that his dad would be upset if something happened to him, but he would lock those feelings up and move on as if they had never been there in the first place. In a few years his dad would be acting like he hadn't even had a son in the first place.
He would probably be a lot happier if he didn't have to clean up the constant messes made by his needy disappointment of a child.
"Whoa, whoa, kid, what're you...what's wrong?" Hector said awkwardly. Varian sniffled and realized in horror that he was crying. He whimpered in pain and humiliation. He buried his face in his hands.
"I-I w-want my dad." Varian said. His stomach grew even more twisted and he curled in on himself. He was acting like such a little kid. Why was he acting like his dad being here would fix everything? He would probably just be disappointed about everything that Varian had done, like he always was.
Hector sighed. Varian's first instinct was to grow tense, because disappointment was never a good thing. It took him a long moment to realize that wasn't what the sigh meant. It sounded different from his dad's sighs. This was one of sadness and just a touch of frustration.
"Yeah, I know, kid." Hector said. He pulled Varian in and hugged him, and the boy leaned against him. Hector wasn't as big as his dad was, but his hug felt just as firm and protective. Varian felt safe in his arms. He knew that he wouldn't let him get hurt.
They stayed like that for a long minute before Hector pulled away, though he still kept his hands on Varian's shoulders. "Tell you what, we'll send my sister to find stuff for breakfast and the two of us will find a river or something and relax for a bit. I've told you about what it was like for me to grow up with Quirin, and I'm dying to know what it was like for you."
Varian flinched ever so slightly and Hector raised an eyebrow at him. "Or you can tell me what exactly they did to you in that dungeon, and whose genius idea it was to put you in there, because I really want to know just who I need to kill."
Varian could tell that Hector was completely serious, and he probably shouldn't find that comforting. Hurting and killing people was bad, and it was even worse if it was done on purpose out of anger, but a big part of Varian still felt like they deserved it. The people of Corona had hurt him. They'd allowed him to suffer, and he couldn't have been the first person that this had happened to.
Varian knew that the king was selfish. He only cared about himself and his family, not about all the citizens who sacrificed everything for him. King Frederic was barely shy of being a tyrant, and he would only get worse if someone didn't knock him down a few pegs and put him in his place. More people were going to get hurt until those who had been hurt stood up and did something about it.
Varian had tried to fight back against the oppressive kingdom. He'd tried to show them what they had put him through, and he'd tried to hurt them to force them to be more empathetic to those that they had power over, but he'd failed. Varian hadn't been strong enough.
Hector though, he was a trained warrior. He had no sentimental feelings towards Corona to hold him back. He could bring the kingdom to its knees, but the best part about that was that he would do it. Hector would fight whoever Varian asked him to, and just the fact that he was willing to felt really comforting.
Varian had almost forgotten what it felt like to have someone who had his back so much that they would do absolutely anything for him.
Varian didn't know if he wanted Hector to kill anybody, but it was nice to have the option.
"Don't encourage him." Adira muttered from where she was laying. She rolled over and stared at them. There was an annoyed look in her eyes.
"You telling me you don't want to get back at the people who could have killed our nephew?" Hector threw an arm over Varian's shoulder.
"They didn't make him sick." Adira sat up.
"No, they probably just sat back and let the kid's body do their dirty work for them." Hector scowled. If you ask me, that's even worse. It shows that they're not only ruthless, but lazy and cowardly too."
"You can't judge people you've never met, brother." Adira said.
"Oh, I definitely can." Hector's expression grew dark. "Neglect is a punishable crime in the Dark Kingdom. It really shouldn't be too much to ask that the bright kingdom of Corona have the same basic standards about treating people decently."
"Their king doesn't care about anybody but himself." Varian wrapped his arms around himself. "He's just really good at tricking people into thinking he does."
"So this goes all the way to the top." Hector smirked, a murderous look in his eyes. "You know, I've always wanted to try to overthrow a king, just to see if I could.
"Hector, stop." Adira said sternly. "You're being a bad influence on Varian."
"I'm being a bad influence?" Hector let his arm fall from Varian's shoulders. He stormed over to Adira and poked her in the chest. The annoyed look in her eyes became furious. "You're trying to discourage the kid from standing up for himself."
Adira harshly smacked Hector's hand away. Varian watched them cautiously, unsure of what to think. Was this normal for them? Varian could feel real tension and animosity between those two. It almost felt like they saw each other as enemies. Was this just the sibling rivalry that Varian had heard kids in Old Corona talk about?
"That's not what I'm saying at all." Adira said. "But there's a difference between him standing up for himself and staging a coup."
"Not when the person we're standing up to is the king." Varian crossed his arms. Adira gave him a disappointed look that reminded him so much of his dad that he felt a pang in his chest. Varian stiffened and squared his shoulders. He glared at his aunt. He didn't think she was in any place to judge him. She didn't know the people of Corona. She barely knew Varian. She had no idea what he'd been through. Was it really so wrong of him to want to make things better so that this kind of thing didn't happen to people like him in the future?
Adira sighed and walked towards Varian. She knelt so she was closer to his level. "Varian, I know you've been hurt. I'm not going to tell you what happened was okay, because it wasn't. You deserved to be taken care of and cared for, but getting revenge on the people who hurt you isn't going to fix things. It won't make the pain go away, and then you'll start to hurt more and more people, hoping that if you take it far enough that everything will get better, and it won't."
Varian shifted uncomfortably. He...he wasn't trying to hurt people. Yes, he wanted to make the king and Rapunzel pay, and maybe some of that was for revenge, but not all of it. Varian just wanted them to finally look at the people they ruled over and see them as more than just pawns that they could use and throw away whenever they desired.
"What do you want me to do?" Varian tried to sound intimidating and angry, because he'd found that people were much more attentive to what he had to say when they saw him as a threat. However, his voice cracked and he knew that he came off as vulnerable and desperate, and he hated it.
"I-I won't just lay down and let them walk all over me." Varian said. "And the only way they'll listen to me, or anybody else, is if we make them."
"I'm sure that's not true," Adira said gently.
"You don't know what you're talking about." Varian seethed.
"If you really don't don't think the king would be willing to listen to you, that's fine. Perhaps you could talk to Princess Rapunzel instead." Adira said. "She seems reasonable enough."
Varian felt his climbing anger suddenly freeze. He felt a little horrified. He shook his head and took a step back from Adira, who was watching him with concern. "P-princess Rapunzel?" Varian shuddered as he thought about Rapunzel, with her fake concern and empty promises. As far as Varian was concerned, she was even worse than the king. Rapunzel pretended to be your friend, but the moment it became an inconvenience for her she would drop you with an insincere apology. She would try to make you feel guilty because she was letting you down. It was sickening, and Varian refused to make himself vulnerable to that. Never again.
"I tried talking to her." Varian said. "I went to her for help, and what I got instead was a door slammed in my face, a face full of snow when they threw me into a blizzard, and a dozen guards watching my every move, just waiting for me to give them an excuse to arrest me."
Adira looked like she'd been slapped in the face, and Hector looked like he desperately wanted to kill something.
"That...that can't be true." Adira said.
Varian flinched and took another step back from his aunt, only to back into Hector. His uncle put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him behind him, stepping almost protectively in front of him.
"You calling the kid a liar, sister?" Hector hissed.
"Of course not." Adira said. "I'm just saying that there may be more behind what happened then what you may think."
"I don't care." Varian said. "If none of them are going to bother thinking about why I did what I did, then I'm not going to give them the benefit of the doubt." As far as Varian was concerned, it was only fair.
"Why are you so desperate to defend a prissy princess that you've never even met before?" Hector asked.
"I have met her." Adira said. "I've been helping her to fulfill her destiny."
Varian shuddered and ducked behind his uncle. He didn't want to think about Rapunzel, and he definitely didn't like the thought that she had tricked his aunt into helping her, just like she had tricked Varian into studying the black rocks.
"And what destiny is that?" Hector growled.
Adira gave Hector a cautious look. She sighed. "She's the sundrop."
Hector stiffened. He flicked his wrist and brought out a blade. Adira didn't look surprised or upset. Hector looked like he was about to attack her. Adira held her hand up defensively. "I'm not here to fight, brother. Right now I'm here to help you and our nephew. I'm willing to stick to the truce if you are."
Hector didn't look convinced. Varian stared at his aunt. He didn't like the thought of her helping Rapunzel, but he didn't want Adira and Hector to fight right now. If they fought, he might get caught in the middle of it, or they might turn their lingering anger towards him, and Varian didn't want to get hurt again.
Varian grabbed Hector's arms. He wasn't strong enough to actually hold him back, but Varian hoped that the touch would be a good enough reminder for his uncle to hold himself back. "Please, don't fight."
Hector huffed irritably and pulled his arm out of Varian's grip, but he didn't attack Adira. He lowered his blade. "Fine, but you're walking on thin ice, sister. I don't want to hear any more about the sundrop."
"I would also like to not talk about Rapunzel." Varian said. Adira didn't look very happy, but she nodded.
"I can do that." Adira said. "Do we have plans for breakfast?"
Varian blinked. This was a very quick change in conversations. Hector seemed unphased about it. Maybe this kind of thing was normal for the two of them.
"Yeah, we got plans." Hector smirked. "I was going to send you to pick up some stuff in town while me and the kid kick back and relax."
Adira gave him an unimpressed look. "You want me to be your errand girl?"
"I mean, unless you want me to go." Hector said. "I'm a pretty good negotiator. I'm sure I can convince the merchants to lower their prices."
Varian snorted. He didn't know which was funnier, the thought of Hector threatening poor townsfolk for some eggs, or the fact that he was holding this over Adira's head to convince her to go into town instead.
Adira crossed her arms. "Fine, I'll go. Varian still needs rest, and that won't happen if you bring the local authorities down on us."
"I knew you'd see things my way." Hector said. Adira rolled her eyes and grabbed a small travel pack. She left without another word. Varian watched her leave cautiously. He didn't really see her as a threat, not like he saw the Coronans, but he didn't know or trust her nearly as much as he did Hector.
Once Adira was out of sight Hector retracted his blade. He sighed tiredly and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, that went better than I thought it would." Varian honestly had no idea if he was kidding or not.
"Thanks for believing me." Varian said quietly. Everybody else, including Adira, seemed much more worried about Rapunzel, and her motives and feelings. It felt really nice to have someone on his side.
"What, did you think I was going to trust the word of a princess that I've never met and have never even heard of before now?" Hector snorted. "I only trust what I can see with my own eyes. I saw you in the dungeons, and I saw how sick and desperate you were. Hearing that you got thrown into a blizzard sounds right along the lines of what I've seen. So yeah, I'm going to trust that over Adira's blind faith in the supposed sundrop."
Varian smiled shakily. He could definitely understand the reasoning behind Hector's words. Varian had a similar philosophy when it came to trust. If somebody gave him a reason to believe in them, then he did. If they betrayed that trust, then he wasn't going to let himself be fooled a second time.
"So, you wanna tell me more about what this sorry excuse of a king did to you?" Hector asked, and Varian found that he did. He desperately wanted to talk through what he'd been through. He'd never been able to just talk about what he went through without fear of being judged, scolded, or hurt for it. It would be nice to just get everything off his chest.
So Varian told Hector everything, starting from the day he'd first met Princess Rapunzel up to when he'd been thrown in the castle dungeon without a trial. Varian could feel all the emotions that had been building up for months, fear, betrayal, fury, pain, justice, all come out as he ranted and rambled.
He knew he was probably being too emotional, but Hector didn't seem bothered by it. If anything, the man got mad right along with him. Varian felt more and more confident as he continued his story. His uncle's approval and understanding helped him to feel better about all of this. It justified Varian's feelings. He'd been wronged, and finally somebody else was agreeing with him on that.
Varian didn't know what he was going to be doing with his lingering feelings of righteous anger. For once he didn't have a plan of action in mind. He still wanted to get back at the princess and her precious kingdom that she claimed to care so much about, and he definitely wanted to free his dad, but he no longer had an idea of how to do that. He was wandering blind. Despite this, Varian wasn't afraid.
The boy looked at Hector as he loudly proclaimed that he would happily burn Corona to the ground, just to see what the king and princess would do then. Varian smiled to himself. He may not know exactly where he was going right now, but at least he knew he wouldn't be walking this path alone anymore.
A/N: I swear, I love Rapunzel, and I know how complicated and nuanced the whole situation was, but this chapter is from Varian's point of view. It's only been a few months since the battle at Old Corona. He's still going to have some frustration about it, and that's okay. He's fourteen years old. It's normal for kids his age to feel like the entire world is against them.